Matthew 9:1-8
Jesus
Heals The Paralyzed Man
9:1
Getting into a boat, Jesus crossed over the sea and
came to His own city.
2 And they brought to Him
a paralytic lying on a bed Seeing their faith,
Jesus said to the paralytic, "Take courage, son;
your sins are forgiven."
3 And some of the scribes
said to themselves, "This fellow blasphemes."
4 And Jesus knowing their
thoughts said, "Why are you thinking evil in your
hearts?
5 "Which is easier, to
say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up,
and walk'?
6 "But so that you may
know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to
forgive sins"--then He said to the paralytic, "Get
up, pick up your bed and go home."
7 And he got up and went
home.
8 But when the crowds saw
this, they were awestruck, and glorified God, who
had given such authority to men.
This
is the Word of the Lord ... It is meant to change
the way that we think, and the way that we live.
Commentary
by Bob Pardue
Revealing Who God
Is
At first glance the story is
about Jesus healing sickness as he did many times
throughout his ministry but if we dig deeper the
paralyzed man was not only ill in body but in
spirit.
Jesus understood that the man
was not only paralyzed physically but spiritually
as well. He felt that the man needed to be forgiven
even more than his need for healing.
The amazing thing is that
Jesus had the power to do both! This amazed the
people watching but it also revealed who Christ
really was ... God in flesh!
Physical Ailments And
Needs VS. Forgiveness And Eternal
Life
Not knowing Christ is a more
daunting disease than physical sickness because it
concerns our souls and salvation for
eternity.
As Christians, we pray for
those around us. I pray almost daily for people I
know or those lifted up at church who are sick,
getting ready for a surgical procedure and, with
the downturn in the economy, those who have lost
jobs or are facing layoffs in their industry or
profession.
These are real concerns and
I'm absolutely in favor of praying for all those
causes. I also encourage you to pray for God to
help those you know who are in need. He does hear
and answer those prayers (although He may not
always answer in the way we would like).
What About Those Who Are
Lost In Spirit?
When we pray, we also need to
think of those who are "sick in spirit" and do not
know Jesus. God hears our prayers. Miracles do
happen if we will only call the name of a lost
person in our prayer.
-
Love in Christ
- Bob
If you have never made
the commitment to receive the love and
life-changing experience of Jesus Christ, please
take a moment to go
here and take the
first
steps to salvation.
Another
Bible Story For Living ...
Matthew
8:28-34 -
Jesus calms the
storm and drives the demons Into pigs. A Christian
lesson of faith.
Verses from Matthew about Jesus healing the
paralyzed man are from New American Standard
Bible
Comments are welcome. Please email
me with any questions or comments you
may have.
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